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<title>A Future They May Never See by Ashley Ω Nova (AshleyOmegaNova)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26383585">A Future They May Never See</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshleyOmegaNova/pseuds/Ashley%20%CE%A9%20Nova'>Ashley Ω Nova (AshleyOmegaNova)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Works Inspired by Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Patch 5.3 - Reflections in Crystal [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XIV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Gen, Post-Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal, Tales from the Shadows (Final Fantasy XIV), Unnamed Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:54:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>827</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26383585</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshleyOmegaNova/pseuds/Ashley%20%CE%A9%20Nova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey Biggs, do you..." the Midlander in Garlond Ironworks attire hesitated, the question growing heavier in his mouth at the last second. "... Do you think he did it?"</p><p>The man he addressed, a Roegadyn and the third of his name, turned his head to his companion. "You mean G'raha?"</p><p>This short story is post-5.3 (Reflections in Crystal), and is intended to evoke the "Tales from the" series of Square Enix-produced Final Fantasy XIV web stories.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Biggs III &amp; G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch, G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch &amp; Warrior of Light, G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light, Krile Mayer Baldesion &amp; G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Works Inspired by Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Patch 5.3 - Reflections in Crystal [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898410</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Future They May Never See</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hey Biggs, do you..." the Midlander in Garlond Ironworks attire hesitated, the question growing heavier in his mouth at the last second. "... Do you think he did it?"</p><p>The man he addressed, a Roegadyn and the third of his name, turned his head to his companion. The campfire crackled in front of them, audible against this unusually quiet night. "You mean G'raha?"</p><p>"Yeah," the Midlander confirmed, before his voice began to crack with uncertainty. "Him. It's been a while, now."</p><p>"It doesn't matter how long it's been. We sent him into the past. Whatever's happened with him, it happened over a century ago."</p><p>"I... I know. I just— My mind still turns to him sometimes. And I can't help but wonder."</p><p>Biggs's eyes turned groundward, though you'd never tell with those goggles of his. "... He did it'," the Roegadyn began, speaking with certainty that wasn't reflected on his face. "He succeeded. And I'll tell you why. He was fully committed. He'd never agree to such praise, but that man had enough determination for ten, and the mind to see it through." Biggs paused and spared a looked at the quiet night sky. Eerily quiet when one remembered people were starving, fighting, and dying under it, not far from where they sat. "He would do anything, and not <em>just</em> to avert all this. He was the only one of us who knew the hero. Hells, 'knew' may be underselling it, eh? Lad wore his feelings on his sleeves. Or his ears, as it were." The two men shared a nostalgic laugh. "But that's how I know he succeeded. Because G'raha would do anything to save the Warrior of Light."</p><p>The woes had melted off the face of Biggs's companion at this point, and he was smiling softly. "You're right. He must have succeeded. Somewhere out there, a world has been spared this calamity." A better future. Everyone who'd come together agreed they'd rather fight for a future they may never see than to accept the state of their crumbling world. The man looked up to the stars, his thoughts focusing back on the man they'd asked the most of. The man who had the most personal investment in seeing their plan succeed. "And since we're still here, I'll bet that means he got to stand by the Warrior of Light's side forever more, just like he always wanted. If we could look back into the past—their past—we'd probably find them off on some adventure together."</p><p>The two comrades were grinning together at the thought. They both knew it was just that. A thought. But somehow, having talked it through, it was so easy to believe. And if the choice was between thinking their friend had failed and died, or that he'd succeeded and yet not altered their own fate? Well... in a world like theirs more than ever, you need <em>something</em> to believe in.</p>
<hr/><p>"Raha, will you please take a seat? <em>My</em> legs are starting to hurt, watching you stand there motionlessly."</p><p>Shock and embarrassment rocked G'raha's face (and ears), his hands unconsciously brought up and curled before his face like paws. "S-Sorry Krile," he addressed the Lalafell, an old classmate of his. "It's just, we're supposed to go on a small adventure to train, and I wanted to be sure I was..." He trailed off, realizing he was on the verge of saying too much. Which Krile confirmed by offering a knowing smirk.</p><p>"Yes, well if you absolutely must be the first thing our friend sees upon returning, at least scoot over a bit so you're not blocking people from getting through." She'd found the mark and singed G'raha's cheeks a little in the process. Though Krile teased him, she couldn't deny she found the idea rather sweet. Being the first to greet someone dear when they come home. Or would this be coming in to work? Best not to think too deeply on that one.</p><p>G'raha did, in fact, scoot over a bit (towards the door, of course). Satisfied with this concession, she returned to Tataru, standing by her desk. "It's sweet and all," Tataru started in a hush, "but every time?"</p><p>Krile chuckled softly. "He waited over a hundred years for our friend. These shorter waits must seem a reward in comparison."</p><p>Tataru sighed, but cracked a smile at the thought. "I'd offer him some tea, but with no table in front of him to set the drink upon..." The two Lalafells looked over just in time to catch him fidgeting with his outfit and his hair, as if making sure both were in perfect order. "On second thought, perhaps holding a cup of tea is exactly the distraction he needs. I'll be right back."</p><p>Before Tataru could take a step, however, the doors to the Rising Stones swung open. A smile of genuine happiness—the kind of happiness you wait over a century for—stretched across G'raha's face. "Welcome back, my friend."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Tales from the Shadows is updating once again! Though I generally think there's very little compelling about Square Enix's web stories for XIV, I wanted to try and write something that would be at home among them while still bearing my writing style. It's possible the end result is something that pleases no one, but I don't regret trying.</p><p>The Square Enix web stories always feature a pair of radio buttons on any story involving the player character, allowing you to choose if your character is "Male" or "Female" for pronoun purposes. I don't have that technology, and I'm a sworn enemy of the gender binary anyway, so I wrote around ever pronouning the character instead. I even avoided the singular they, since the localization is ever so insistent on the old "he or she." Needless to say, I'm not a fan; it's fun to try to match someone else's style, though.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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